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Deaf education bill is ailing | The News Leader | newsleader.com
The bill may have sailed through a key legislative panel, but Del. Richard P. "Dickie" Bell's proposed bill of rights for deaf and hard-of-hearing students is in trouble.
After sending the bill on to the House of Delegates Education Committee to approve the bill, the House Students and Early Education subcommittee also recommended the powerful Appropriations Committee look it over.
"That's not usually a good thing," said Bell, R-Staunton, late last week. "I'd say the bill is on life support."
The maneuver is a not-unheard way of putting a feel-good bill on ice, by letting it languish in the committee that gives thumbs up or down to spending proposals. Bell's bill would not require state funds.
Bell said two key education groups raised concerns last week about his proposal, which requires that schools' formal plans for children in special education — called Individualized Education Programs, or IEPs — recognize the communications needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing students
One concern is that federal law and state regulations already require the plans to do that, lobbyists for the school boards and school superintendent associations said.
"This would be the first and only bill dealing with how an IEP committee, which is composed of knowledgeable educators as well as the parent, must address a specific disability," D. Patrick Lacy Jr. a lobbyist for the Virginia School Boards Association, said Sunday.
Also, federal law and state policy call for teaching children in the least restrictive setting possible, so that they spend the most time possible with other students who do not have special needs.
"If the requirements of this bill were passed, then an IEP committee might feel compelled to recommend a more segregated placement to meet the specific requirements listed," said Tom Smith, legislative liaison for the Virginia Association of School Superintendents.
A committee might decide, for instance, that it was best for a child to spend most of the school day with adults using sign language, rather than a classroom with other children, he said.
Lacy said the bill could open the door to lawsuits against schools, and noted that its language, calling for the optimal legislation, sets a standard the U.S. Supreme Court rejected when it ruled schools must provide a free and appropriate education to children with disabilities.
Augusta County superintendent Chuck Bishop said county schools use technology and employ sign language interpreters to help keep children with disabilities in classrooms with others.
He said he's never seen a complaint from parents of a deaf or hard-of-hearing child about the schools failing to address communications needs.
"We try to do our best for every student in our schools," he said.
The bill may have sailed through a key legislative panel, but Del. Richard P. "Dickie" Bell's proposed bill of rights for deaf and hard-of-hearing students is in trouble.
After sending the bill on to the House of Delegates Education Committee to approve the bill, the House Students and Early Education subcommittee also recommended the powerful Appropriations Committee look it over.
"That's not usually a good thing," said Bell, R-Staunton, late last week. "I'd say the bill is on life support."
The maneuver is a not-unheard way of putting a feel-good bill on ice, by letting it languish in the committee that gives thumbs up or down to spending proposals. Bell's bill would not require state funds.
Bell said two key education groups raised concerns last week about his proposal, which requires that schools' formal plans for children in special education — called Individualized Education Programs, or IEPs — recognize the communications needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing students
One concern is that federal law and state regulations already require the plans to do that, lobbyists for the school boards and school superintendent associations said.
"This would be the first and only bill dealing with how an IEP committee, which is composed of knowledgeable educators as well as the parent, must address a specific disability," D. Patrick Lacy Jr. a lobbyist for the Virginia School Boards Association, said Sunday.
Also, federal law and state policy call for teaching children in the least restrictive setting possible, so that they spend the most time possible with other students who do not have special needs.
"If the requirements of this bill were passed, then an IEP committee might feel compelled to recommend a more segregated placement to meet the specific requirements listed," said Tom Smith, legislative liaison for the Virginia Association of School Superintendents.
A committee might decide, for instance, that it was best for a child to spend most of the school day with adults using sign language, rather than a classroom with other children, he said.
Lacy said the bill could open the door to lawsuits against schools, and noted that its language, calling for the optimal legislation, sets a standard the U.S. Supreme Court rejected when it ruled schools must provide a free and appropriate education to children with disabilities.
Augusta County superintendent Chuck Bishop said county schools use technology and employ sign language interpreters to help keep children with disabilities in classrooms with others.
He said he's never seen a complaint from parents of a deaf or hard-of-hearing child about the schools failing to address communications needs.
"We try to do our best for every student in our schools," he said.